Rioja in Denver just got a nice tip of the toque: TimeOut magazine has listed the restaurant’s lamb burger as one of the best burgers in the U.S. So raise a glass to Jennifer Jasinski, Rioja’s chef and co-owner, and her crew.

Making the news all the more cool is the fact that Rioja isn’t a burger joint at all, but a fine-dining establishment that leans towards pan-Mediterranean fare, with a particularly strong influence from Spain. And Jasinski has won a James Beard Award for Best Chef Southwest.

That wasn’t lost on the folks at TimeOut. “The world is divided between people who eat burgers in white-tablecloth restaurants, and fools who do not,” the citation reads. “Denver diners in the former category sing the praises of the Colorado lamb burger at this elegant Larimer Square spot from James Beard Award winner Jennifer Jasinski.

Rioja’s burger is an exercise in savory construction: Colorado-raised lamb is decked with peppery arugula and housemade mozzarella, then dolloped with zippy aioli. TimeOut noted the sandwich’s “Rocky Mountain swagger,” and they got it right. Read more…

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The event runs Sunday from noon to 3 p.m. As the riders flash by on the final four laps of this grueling event, the Marczyk crew will serve up chargrilled Niman Ranch burgers, duck fat fries and fresh oysters.

The bleachers at 770 E. 17th Ave. will be open all day. As always, it’s first come, first sit.

Workers at the Denver Tech Center, and residents in Denver’s southern suburbs, will soon have a new place to eat. Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar will open at the Landmark, next to Hapa Sushi, this October.

It will be the fourth location of Bad Daddy’s in Denver, and the latest venue was announced by East West Partners, which took over management of the Landmark in 2013 after the developer, Zach Davidson, committed suicide after being accused of embezzlement and bankruptcy.

Woo-hoo! Marczyk burger night is back, the popular grocery’s warm-weather homage to ground beef cooked outdoors on a big charcoal grill. The relaunch is April 24 — hey, that’s today — and the fun runs from 5 p.m.-7:30 p.m.

Both Marczyk Fine Foods locations are in on the action: The original store at 770 E. 17th Ave. and the one at the southeast corner of East Colfax Avenue and Fairfax Street.

For $8.99, you get a burger made with house-ground Niman Ranch beef, Vermont sharp cheddar and the usual fixings,including the market’s housemade bacon aioli. It’s all piled atop a brioche bun from City Bakery. Urp.

And get this: Duck fat fries are available at the Colfax location. The tasty goodness runs each Friday night into early autumn.

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If you’ve driven down West Alameda Ave., just west of Federal Boulevard, you’ve probably noticed the white carniceria building that features a painting of a cartoon cow licking its chops as a giant knife carves steaks from what remains of its hind end.

Rendered in black and red, it’s a simple painting. The cow — and it is a cow, not a steer, says Nubia Millan, who designed the cow and owns La Sierra Carniceria y Taqueria — looks like one of the happy cows from “The Story of Ferdinand,” the classic pacifist book by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson.

But instead of sitting quietly under a tree, sniffing flowers, this cow is peering cheerily over her shoulder at her mutilated flank. She is not disturbed that her hind legs have gone missing. She is wearing a bib, ready for some fresh, yummy beef! It’s what’s for dinner, and you can’t get more locally sourced than this!

This doesn’t include meals I had while traveling, or at home, or even ones I enjoyed at Front Range restaurants I’ve reviewed in previous years. This is purely about the top dishes I had at restaurants I reviewed in the past 12 months.

It was a tough list to whittle down, and there were a couple of finalists that were bested, narrowly, by competing plates on the same menu. Two cases in point:Read more…

Hopdoddy has a sense of humor…and truffle fries. Photo by Ray Mark Rinaldi

The new Hopdoddy Burger Bar opened downtown today and I have only two words for that: Beer milkshakes. Chocolate stout shakes, burgers, fries, cocktails with clever names, about a million beers on tap…if those are your things, check it out.

Beer+Shake=Good

Located in the building next to Denver Union Station, it’s not a local operation. Hopdoddy is a small (and growing) chain, based in Austin, Texas. But it’s funky and affordable, for sure, two very welcome things in a neighborhood that feels more expensive by the minute.

Highland Tap & Burger’s “Shroom Luva’s” sandwich was named one of Zagat’s top burgers in America. (Courtesy Zagat)

Well, Denver burgers finally got some love in a national survey — by the folks at Zagat, the restaurant guide.

Highland Tap & Burger got a shout-out as the Mile High City’s top purveyor of grilled ground beef, specifically with its “Shroom Luva’s” tribute to sauteed mushrooms. The burger also boasts a white truffle oil aioli and Emmenthal cheese. It’s $10, and for an extra $11 you can pile on some foie gras. No word on whether a defibrillator comes with the latter upgrade.

Colorado Table readers might remember that in early June, no Denver restaurant made the cut of the 101 best burgers restaurants in America in a survey compiled by The Daily Meal, a website reputed to contain all things food and wine.

As Denver restaurant consultant John Imbergamo rightly complained: “For 365 days of the year, we have to live with the moniker ‘cowtown,’ and The Daily Meal can’t even cite one burger from here? That’s total bull.”